Cetic.br promotes debate on the use of Big Data as a source for producing data for public policies

6th NIC.br Research Methodologies Week featured lectures, interactive activities, and case studies

From April 11 to 14, 2016, the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br), part of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), held the 6th edition of the NIC.br Research Methodologies Week. The event aimed to stimulate debate between data producers and users about information and communication technologies (ICT), covering theoretical and practical concepts on research methodologies, as well as promoting the exchange of experiences among participants.

The workshop, which included lectures, interactive activities, and the presentation of practical examples and case studies, brought forth the discussion of the theme "Big Data as a new data source for development." The presentations and mini-courses addressed concepts and opportunities for the use of "Big Data" in the development and formulation of public policies, as well as debated the challenges in using these resources to produce official statistics. Topics such as applications in the health sector, publishing Data on the Web, and Data Journalism were discussed with great interest by the participants.

The event also promoted mini-courses that included the use of quantitative methods for public policy evaluation and the use and implementation of online research through electronic questionnaires on the Web, covering everything from their layout to the advantages and disadvantages of their use.

Alexandre Barbosa, manager of Cetic.br, highlights the importance of the debate on the use of unstructured bases, such as Big Data. "The speakers brought different experiences on the use of data to generate relevant information for the development of public policies," he observes.

The manager also comments that the profile of the participants - composed of representatives from government agencies, academia, international organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, and ECLAC, and experts from countries like Colombia, Kenya, South Africa, and Uruguay - allowed for a highly enriching exchange of experiences around the theme.

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.